


Dropping Walls

by nychus



Series: IgNoct Week 2019 [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Fluff, Ignoct Week, Ignoct Week 2019, M/M, Situational Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-26 13:55:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20027371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nychus/pseuds/nychus
Summary: Noctis gets permission to ask Ignis on a date. And he's got three days to so.IgNoct Week 2019 - Day 1:Situational Prompt - Marriage proposals or getting permission to court





	Dropping Walls

**Author's Note:**

> IgNoct 2019 Week Day 1:  
Situational Prompt: Marriage proposals or getting permission to court
> 
> It's not as dire as the summary makes it seem. :D

“Hey, Dad?”

“Yes, Noct?”

They were sitting in Regis’s study, both looking through various reports that needed to be dealt with in the next couple of days. Despite the fact it meant he had to work, Noctis liked that he could spend time with his father. It meant he got the time to feel comfortable enough to ask this question.

“How terrible is it that I don’t want to have a queen?”

Regis looked up from his desk, eyebrow slightly cocked. “You would rather have…?”

“A prince consort,” Noctis supplied, watching his father for any sort of reaction. There was nothing on Regis’s face that gave away what he was thinking.

“Hmm,” was the only reply he got before Regis returned his attention to the papers in his hand.

Noctis frowned. What did that mean? “Are we going to discuss this?”

“What is there to discuss?” Regis asked, not taking his eyes off the report. “You desire a prince consort instead of a queen. Seems pretty cut and dry to me.”

“But…I’m your only son…”

“Surrogates, Noctis. If you are concerned about producing an heir to the throne, there is no need to. Our ancestors have used surrogates before and our descendants likely will again.”

“So…you aren’t angry?”

The king’s eyes finally returned to look at his son and a mischievous smile played on his lips. “You think so little of me?”

“What?! No of course not!” Noctis cried.

That earned a laugh, “Son, I love you and care not who you love. I want you to be happy. I want you to have what your mother and I had, only I wish for you to have it for so much longer. Although, I can feign anger if it would make you feel better.”

“No, thank you,” Noctis grumbled, returning to his own reports. They worked in silence for several minutes before Noctis got the nerve to ask the next question. “Are there rules to courting?”

“Not that I’m aware of. No rules were enforced upon me and your mother,” Regis said.

“Are there rules on who I can and cannot court?”

Regis smiled. It looked a bit devious, like he knew more than Noctis thought he should. “Does he know you wish to court him?”

“Uh…”

“Is he aware of your feelings for him?”

“Well, uh, no…”

A chuckle. “Do you think he returns your feelings?”

“Sometimes? Maybe?”

“Then just ask him on a date, son. The worst he can do is say no.”

That wasn’t true, Noctis thought. The worst he could do was say no and then step out of his life forever in some dumbass attempt at getting Noctis to forget about him. Either that or shut himself off completely and become just like every other stiff servant that surrounds him.

A little alarm went off, indicating it was time to call their meeting to a close. Both men stood and stretched and Regis walked around his desk to join his son. He placed a comforting hand on Noctis’s shoulder and said, “If you want my opinion, I think he returns your feelings.”

“You do?” Noctis asked before realizing exactly what Regis had said. “Wait, what? Who? Who do you think returns my feelings?”

Another chuckle. “Ask him out, but be sure to treat him. Impress upon him that you have no status over him. You never have,” Regis smiled, eyes dancing with amusement. “And don’t let him convince you to allow him to cook. Again, YOUR treat. Now go. Ask him. I expect to hear what happened at our next meeting.”

“That’s in three days,” Noctis said.

“So don’t procrastinate. I just want to know if he agreed to a date or not.”

“Fine,” Noctis said, smiling. “I’ll ask him before our next meeting.”

“That’s my boy. Have a good evening, Noct.”

“You too, Dad.”

~*~*~*~*~  
The following evening, Ignis was working in the kitchen while Noctis glanced through the notes that had been taken at the council meeting. Ignis’s notes were always so neat and precise; he never seemed to write down anything that wasn’t important.

Noctis kept working until Ignis exited the kitchen and looked as if he was deciding to leave or not.

“Are you going?” Noctis asked.

“All my duties for the evening are complete. I’ve plated and covered your dinner until you are ready to eat and we can discuss anything about today’s meeting in the morning.

He frowned as he watched Ignis but said nothing until Ignis gave an indication he knew something was on Noctis’s mind.

“I get you might have plans you need to get to, but you are my friend before anything else. You don’t have to run off just because dinner is done. You can stay and we can just watch a movie or something tonight.”

It was clear there was some hesitation in Ignis’s response. It was as if he wanted to say yes immediately, but stopped himself. It took a few seconds before he agreed. Noctis smiled widely and jumped from the couch.

“Great! Let’s eat and then you can pick the movie.” Noctis pushed past Ignis while giving him a pat on the back as he grabbed his plate from the kitchen. By the time he turned around, Ignis seemed more relaxed than he had a moment ago. For a second, Noctis watched as he retrieved his own plate and placed food on it.

The food was great. It always was. Conversation was a little sparse, but both were hungry, and again, the food was great. Noctis cleared the table while Ignis went to find a movie. He settled on a movie they used to love as kids but figured it would be pretty terrible now that they were adults.

He wasn’t wrong.

A movie from their childhood took Noctis back to simpler days. Days when their casual touching had no possible extra meaning behind them and about two-thirds through the movie, Noctis realized he had laid his head on Ignis’s lap, like he used to. He had noticed, he realized, because the fingers that had been running through his hair had stopped. Noctis glanced up to see Ignis was staring intently at the television.

He could feel the tenseness in Ignis’s body and with a sigh, he pushed himself up. Ignis was watching him out of the corner of his eye and Noctis used the moment to refill their drinks and sitting on the opposite side of the sectional once he returned.

He wasn’t sure what was going on, why there was the strain between them, but it was clear that his father was wrong. Ignis didn’t like him back. He spent the last fifteen minutes of the movie trying to figure out a way he could ask Ignis out without actually doing so.

The credits barely had a chance to roll before Ignis turned the television off. That was quick, even by Ignis’s standards. Noctis looked over at him, curious.

“Apologies, Noctis,” Ignis said. He was looking at his hands and not at Noctis.

“What for?” The prince was completely at a loss. Ignis hadn’t done anything. Not really. Yeah, there was a strain that hadn’t been there this afternoon, but perhaps something happened that Ignis hadn’t wanted to talk about.

“I let my walls down and haven’t had a chance to put them back up.”

Coming from anyone else, Noctis could understand. Everyone had something they didn’t want others to know and it was hard when something broke those walls down. Noctis knew that as well as anyone. But for Ignis, this was strange. They’ve always shared everything. At least, he thought they had. Okay, so it’s not like Noctis had told Ignis he’s been crushing on him forever, but that’s different.

“Why does there have to be walls between us?” Noctis asked, perplexed. “You know you can share anything with me without judgement.”

“Not this.”

“Why?”

Ignis looked over to him. “Is there nothing you’ve kept from me? Have you truly told me every little secret?”

“Well…” Noctis started and that earned him a knowing look. “Okay, fine. There’s one thing, but I think I’ve figured it out so I guess it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Care to share?”

He scrunched his nose. “Not really, but Dad set me to task…”

Mention of Regis definitely caught Ignis’s attention.

With a deep breath, Noctis said, “Okay, look. It’s no big deal. I was just, gonna ask if you’d like to go out. On a date. Like…like a real date. Dinner or movies or some other cliché first date kind of thing. But I’m pretty certain you would only say yes to appease me but—”

His ramblings were cut off suddenly by a finger over his lips. That finger remained until Ignis was sure he’d stopped talking.

After a few seconds of silence, Ignis said with a smile, “The walls I’ve always kept up around you fell abruptly today when I entered the locker room to find you mid-change. You are usually done by the time I come in after talking with Gladio, but I was greeted with a lot more skin than I’m used to. I adverted my eyes quickly, but it was too late. A quick glance at your physical beauty opened up all the thoughts on your personal beauty and it’s kept me distracted. I’ve been on edge in hopes of not accidentally doing something that might ruin our friendship.”

Whatever Noctis had expected to hear, it was not this. Ignis thought he had physical beauty? He was scrawny, pale, and had a huge, ugly scar on his back. Personal beauty? What did that mean exactly?

After a few dumb blinks, Noctis’s brain did connect a few dots. He grinned, “So…you wanna go on a date?”

“I…I would, but…”

“No buts!” Noctis interjected before Ignis could think too much. “Dinner sound good? That new Altissian place opened up, we could try that. Or we could do something more casual. Grab some skewers and just walk in the park? Anything. Your choice, my treat.”

Noctis’s enthusiasm seemed a bit much for Ignis. It was almost like he wanted to be just as enthused, but as it was Ignis, he worried.

“You mentioned your father?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I asked about not wanting a queen and then about the rules of courting. He didn’t care, told me he knew of no rules, and he knew it was you despite me not giving out any personal identifiers.”

That finally got Ignis to relax. If Regis didn’t care then no one else mattered. He agreed to dinner and liked the suggestion of grabbing something from a food truck to enjoy while walking in the park. They made plans for Saturday.

~*~*~*~*~

Two days later, Noctis knocked on his father’s study door and couldn’t suppress the grin he had when he was told to enter.

Regis took one look at him and smiled, “I take it he said yes?”

“He said yes.”


End file.
